Michael Neibauer, The Examiner
2008-03-11 08:00:00.0
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WASHINGTON -

The D.C. Water and Sewer Authority has agreed to allow an independent review of what critics argue is suspect, perhaps dangerous water flowing through thousands of District faucets.

Jerry Johnson, WASA general manager, told a D.C. Council committee Monday that despite his “confidence in our stewardship of this system,” bringing in the D.C. Department of the Environment to judge water quality “is an excellent idea.” The agreement comes on the heels of reports that the area’s water supply is confronted by lead spikes and traces of medicines.

“I now believe that this is imperative,” Johnson told the Public Works and Environment Committee, chaired by Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham. “Perhaps we will gain new information, and most importantly we will take one more step in rebuilding public confidence.”

George Hawkins, DDOE director, said talks have started to determine how an independent review would work.

“It certainly seems like a warranted idea,” Hawkins said. “What we want is for District residents to feel safe and secure when they turn on the tap.”

WASA has been on the defensive about water quality since 2003, when dangerously high lead levels were first made public. Lead levels have steadily decreased since WASA started adding a corrosive inhibitor to the water in 2004, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

WASA has since embarked on a $93 million program to partially replace tens of thousands of lead service lines, those in the public right of way. But that project induces short-term lead spikes that one expert contends last a dangerously long time.

Marc Edwards, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, found lead levels in D.C. homes were as high as 225 parts per billion — 15 times EPA’s safe standards — a month after line replacements. He urged WASA to “stop downplaying the adverse health affects of lead in water.”

Johnson disagreed, arguing Edwards used bad data to reach his conclusions. WASA’s research showed the levels returned to EPA standards within two weeks, Johnson said. Residents are warned via mailings, brochures, door hangers and community meetings to flush their pipes in the meantime.

mneibauer@dcexaminer.com